New bill would reinstate presidential primary election in Idaho

A new bill introduced Friday in the Idaho Legislature would reinstate a presidential primary election in Idaho.

Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, sponsored the new bill, Senate Bill 1415.

Last year, the Idaho Legislature eliminated the presidential primary election when it passed a bill attempting to move the presidential primary from March to May.

When the Idaho Legislature didn’t reinstate the presidential primary, the Idaho Republican Party and Idaho Democratic Party each stepped in to schedule a presidential caucus instead.

The Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus was held Saturday, and voters had to attend in person. Unlike a primary election, there was no option for active duty members of the military serving away from home, religious missionaries, people who had to work, people who were ill or disabled and people who lacked transportation to participate in the caucus if they could not attend in person Saturday. The Idaho Capital Sun calculated voter turnout for the Idaho Republican Caucus at about 6.8%. By comparison, turnout for the 2022 primary election in Idaho was 32.5%.

During the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee meeting Friday, Winder told legislators that the presidential primary election would take place in conjunction with the state’s other primary elections for legislative and county races. Political parties would have the option of using the results from the reinstated primary election to award delegates to presidential candidates, or they could choose to hold their own presidential caucus again instead.

Either way, voters would be able to participate in a presidential primary election in Idaho if the new bill is passed into law.

“This is a presidential primary draft that allows for people to express their preference,” Winder said during Friday’s meeting. “It doesn’t require the party to use the information, because we know the parties can use caucuses or other methods to determine who their candidates are. But I think it’s a way for people who want to express their opinion on the president, they could do so.”

Introducing the bill clears the way for it to return to the Senate State Affairs Committee for a full public hearing.